Hiking in Taroko Gorge

17Jan10

We are on the train returning from an exciting weekend in Hualien. This trip has been one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. The scenery reminded me of hiking on the Olympic Penninsula, but was about a thousand times more spacious and profound.

Hualien is a town about three hours from Taipei and while it is also a city the pace of life there is a little slower and it is close to Taroko National Park. I wasn’t certain of the entire plan for this trip, but “embraced the ambiguity” and came prepared for anything.

Like Yingge, I thought that we were headed for a tiny village, especially since it is so close to Taroko, but that was not the case. Our hotel, Azure, was beautiful with European-style comfy beds, but was situated on a street bordered by McDonald’s, KFC, and 7-11. There were some little shopping streets that resembled the Shilin Night Market in Taipei, but they were mostly filled with racks and racks of clothes, shoes and handbags.

The beds alone made the hotel a highlight of the trip and I slept better than I have otherwise on this trip. Although I was very excited to get out in the fresh air for some exercise and nature, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was a little uncertain of what I thought would be two full days of intense hiking. It turned out that we arrived Friday and explored before going out to dinner, Saturday was our all-day hiking excursion in the gorge and we left early on Sunday.

Once we hit the trails on Saturday, I was thankful that we were able to explore at our own pace and given time to take a million photographs to document our experience. Sorting through all of the photographs will be a job in itself. In the words of Carolyn, “How will I ever choose a desktop background?” Love it.

Here are some of the photos from our experiences this weekend… Once I get more from Carolyn and Courtney I may have more to share. Enjoy!

Lindsay- Wow – it’s amazing and beautiful and a memory you will have forever. I can’t wait to see the rest of the photos. I love the way you have embraced every moment of this experience. You are my hero. Love you, Mom